THE STENCH of the councillors’ allowances scandal hangs over the county like a black cloud, according to one county councillor.
At a meeting of the full council last week, Cllr Gwyn Gwilym, member for Abercrave, asked whether all cabinet members had accepted the pay increase, compared to what they were paid when they were board members.
“The public indignation is beyond belief, I’ve never known such indignation,” he said at the meeting on July 14.
“People are very concerned about it, I get asked about it every day.”
Cllr Ann Holloway agreed it was a very important question, while Cllr Dai Davies asked why the new cabinet members were allowed to vote on the increase in the first place.
The monitoring officer said that according to the members’ code of conduct, it is classed as an ‘interest’ for members to vote on their allowances but not a prejudicial interest.
“The code of conduct does not segregate out different types of allowances,” he said.
The chair of the council, Cllr Barry Thomas requested councillors tabled their questions for the next county council meeting.
“I am not stopping debate but give me proper notice and that will happen,” he said.
“There are a number of questions and they can be answered next time, that is the proper way.”